


If you can't beat them...

by DeadlyWeiss



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-21 04:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19996033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadlyWeiss/pseuds/DeadlyWeiss
Summary: The boyfriend of an avid gamer gets tired of being ignored, but since a direct confrontation won't work, he decides to try and beat him in his own game.





	If you can't beat them...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BatchSan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatchSan/gifts).



When I first make an _Eternal Dream Online_ account, I do it with every intention of gaining a better understanding of my boyfriend’s hobby. Ethan seems perfectly content with spending hours hacking away at monsters of slightly different colors and collecting virtual trinkets to play dress up, and since apparently millions of other people do as well, clearly there must be something fun about the game that I’m not getting from just watching.

“Doesn’t Ethan have like, a thousand dollar set up?” The manager of the internet café asks while he rings the couple of hours I just bought. “I bet it looks real crisp on that.”

“He won’t let me touch it.”

“Typical Ethan. Well, let me know if you need anything.”

***

My second attempt, and the time I _finally_ manage to get into it, happens purely out of — spite is kind of a harsh word, but I can’t think of any other way to describe what I feel as I walk into the apartment and see Ethan glued to the computer screen, still in the same jeans and t-shirt that he was wearing when I saw him at the campus in the morning.

“Ethan, what day is today?”

He glances at the calendar on the wall where, sure enough, “Date with Michael” is written in big, red bold letters.

“Oh, shit. We were supposed to go out, weren’t we?” Despite the face he makes, he goes trough the trouble of turning off the computer the proper way before standing up. “Give me five minutes, alright?”

“Don’t bother, we won’t get there in time. We can go out some other day.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

It’s not, because this isn’t the first time it’s happened and there’s a reason he felt the need to mark it on his calendar like that, he knows it, too. Maybe if I was a better man I’d let try to be more understanding, but as Ethan walks me to the door, all I can think about is how hell will freeze before I let myself become less important than a bunch of pixels.

I don’t go back home. Instead, I head to the café and spend the entire night absolutely devouring available guide, every bit of information and forum post about _Eternal Dream Online_ with the same diligence I puts into my studies.

***

It’s a work of weeks, but all things considered, I’m lucky that Ethan chose to invest all that time in a game which is based enough on skill that it allows me to catch up to him in a relatively short time without spending an absurd amount of money. It also helps that I know Ethan, and through his many thinly veiled attempts to get me interested in EDO, I know his character quite well.

I enter the PvP arena and send a challenge to him.

“Are you sure you want to do this, man?”

"What, are you scared of losing against a newbie?"

The facial animations of the characters are pretty limited, but that doesn't stop me from picturing Ethan perfectly, sitting in front of his computer and looking somewhere between confused and smugly confident as he accepts.

_Click, click, click._

He's a knight, so while he hits hard, he hits slow, and his magic resistance is practically not-existent. My elf is almost a perfect counter, all I have to do is keep out of his range and chip away his health little by little with a combination of arrows and spells; by the time he seems to fully comprehend that it won't be a guaranteed win just because of our level difference, it's already too late for him to change his strategy.

_Click, click, click._

"Wait" I message him once we're back at the lobby "I recognize your name, you're pretty high in the rankings, aren't you?"

"Yea, I'm the top 100."

“Wow. I thought you'd be better than this.”

***

The final boss of the raid falls to the ground as my arrow hits him, depleting his remaining health before the sword of Ethan’s character has the chance to reach him.

It’s not until a moment passes and the map-wide notification lets everyone know that I got the highest rarity drop from the boss that Ethan starts cursing.

“Come on, again? Fuck!”

"Better luck next week, I guess."

"You stole that! Get back here and fight me like a man!"

***

After a couple of months, I know EDO's event calendar almost as well as my own, so I'm quite a bit surprised when I see Ethan lying on the couch watching TV. I didn't participate in this one because it's PvE only and rewards are individual, but Ethan by all means should be taking advantage of the last few hours before it closes.

“Isn’t today the last day of that thing in the game? Shouldn’t you be playing?”

He shrugs half-heartedly.

"I don't know, it hasn’t been that fun lately. I’m thinking about taking a break, actually” There it is. "Hey, how about we eat out? I'm feeling like having Chinese."

I'm about to suggest a place, except I don’t feel good about it, I don't feel like I won anything. I feel like an asshole.

I sit down next to him, and I take a deep breath.

“I need to tell you something. Ethan, I... I'm the elven archer that's been messing with you .”

He looks at me with a dumbfounded expression. He must think I'm joking and now right he's trying to recall when it was that he brought it up, so I take out my phone and open the game's companion app to show him my profile.

“But why?”

“You spend so much time with that game, I felt like you liked it better than me. I thought that if I could discourage you, just a little... but I don't want you to quit because of me."

He gives me back my phone and we exchange a quiet look. But then, instead of saying anything or even looking upset, he just leans forward me and starts kissing me, pushing me back until he's practically on top of me. 

“You lost me.”

“You were kicking my ass left and right, and I’ve been playing since the server launched.” He says between laughs “And I’m _good_ , Michael.”

"Aren't you angry?"

"I'm fucking pissed, you should have just talked to me! But I'm also pretty damn impressed, you went through a lot of trouble to give me shit — it's pretty hot."

He slides his hands under my shirt, but I push him away before he can get too far.

"Wait. Let's see if we can still get you that exclusive armor before the event ends."

"Are sure? We can still go out for dinner."

"Just hurry up before I change my mind."


End file.
